mdavis7

Forum,

I spoke with Chris at ECS (awesome guy!) about the ECS supercharger kit and my ultimate plans (insert evil laughter here) which is to reliabily produce around 700rwhp. I was planning to do this by going with an ECS Supercharger Kit(8rib) + Heads/Cam. Chris told me I would be insane to do this on a stock bottom end so I would have to go forged before going heads/cam.

Since I want to do this in stages what is the most cost effective path? Supercharger first, then forged, then heads/cam and driveline? or heads/cam, then forged, then supercharger? Maybe there isn't a cost effective path with FI?

I know installing things in stages adds labor cost but I will be doing all if not most of the work.

The complete timeline is about 1.5-2 years for everything (so the wife doesn't kill me)

The heads/cam kit I was looking at is the AFR 205cc with the Texas Speed Magic Stick 3 cam.

Thanks,
Mike

chriswtx

you got that right...I did a cam/headers and the ECS blower first. Now I am slowly gathering parts for a forged bottom end. With the ECS kit you will be able to hit 700rwhp with stock heads no problem Not don't really need to waste $$$ on heads for 700rwhp. I would have hit 650rwhp on my stock motor if I would have not stopped the dyno run at 6000rpm and 617rwhp/572rwtq with 10psi You will also need to factor in drive line and fuel upgrades at the time you decide to forge the bottom end and turn up the boost..

mdavis7

I always like to error on the side of saftey so I assumed I would be around your 617rwhp numbers with a safe amount of boost on 93 octane with the ECS kit and stock everything. Its seems its that extra 100rwhp that costs so much money in terms of the driveline, heads, etc.

Damn addiction...

Mike

Earl H

There is no cost effective way to go with FI...If you have to really watch your money, going FI will only end up being a headache. Read American HP's thread. His is a classic example...and he actually planned on spending quite a bit...you intend on spending a certain amount and it will always cost more...no matter what the vendor tells you. Just a part of the game.

chriswtx

If you do the labor yourself and pinch pennies..it can be done within reason. I have about $9000 in my car including the blower, Kooks headers, Corsa exhaust, cam, pushrods, dual valve springs, timing chain, new return style fuel system with Bosch pump, and MSD BAP. I have figured it will run me another $2800 to build a good short block myself with hand ported 317 heads I got off ebay brand new for $200 shipped and new Diamond pistons I picked up cheap for $400 shipped. I just take my time and shop for good buys. But for the non-do it yourselfer figure on about $18K when its totally done +- another $3K

Earl H

I think you forgot the cost to upgrade the clutch or A4... oh, and last time I checked $9K was a good chunk of change.

chriswtx

I thought $9K for everything was cheap in this game...Seems anything under $20K is cheap in this game...

Z06GMAN

This man is wise for a young man Listen to him grasshopper

xtream1

Don't forget to add the tires to put the power down and rims to mount them on as well as a better clutch. Then there's the blown diff so add the DTE brace, hardened shafts, tunnel plate for chassis stiffness, meth kit, oil coolers, upgraded rad for the hotter temps, gauges, tuning, etc... Still haven't mentioned the incidentals inside the shortblock like head studs, timing chain, ported oil pump, gaskets, rockers, sensors, water pump, etc.

Building a complete FI package is very far from a budget build.

Oh yeah, the last 20% gets exponentially expensive whether it's the fuel system, traction, or the power system etc. In other words, 500rwhp can be had at a reasonable cost but a reialble 700rwhp is $.

mdavis7

I have the tires and rims (NItto RII's) and put the ported oil pump and incidentals inside the prices as well. I did not account for the drivetrain pieces though, so I will need to get prices on them.

Maybe I should just go heads/cam and be happy

Thanks,
Mike

mdhmi

There isn't one. The lower cost approach would be to buy everything at once, if you can't I'd wait until you can.

Mark

Hool97

Like everyone else here price increases very quickly. Doing your own labor can save you thousands though depending on the shop. Also once you are at 500rwhp+ you will be surprised at all the Sh*t that goes wrong. In addition more Hp means more heat, as was mentioned above. You will need a larger radiator and/or cooler. Also tuning each time you change something, some charge $300-500 a tune or more. I have spent >$50,000 and its still not what it should be. You will read about clutches no holding up and of course A4 grenading.

Definitly not cheap and anything more then H/C gets into big $$$.

Tenderfoot

It's nice to be able say that my vette has 1 million HP/TQ. However, the question is, can you even use that power. You will need to spend a lot of money in driveline and rear end components, tires, etc. which will be recurring costs, not to mention downtime for your car once you get to higher power levels. Since I don't do my own work, my strategy was to get a power adder to get me to around 500RWHP for a fast/fun street car. You should be able to increase the power (read that boost) of whatever power adder you select in case you hit the lottery and want to build the mega HP vette.

xlr8shn

Doing all the work myself, mods in this order:

1) RAM 980 VDS clutch, alum flywheel, adj master, Z06 slave ~$1300
2) Used FLP headers ~$800
3) Racetronix fuel pump + wiring ~$300
4) Used LS6 intake ~$300
5) Futral F7 cam, Ti Retainers, Manley Double springs ~$900
6) A&A P1SC kit with 42lb inj ~$4900
7) FLP Dyno Tune ~$300
8) ECS Alky kit ~$500

Future:
9) Forged Bottom End
10) different pulley for P1SC :o

peter pan

I built my whole car at one time except for the trans and differential and those are waiting more mod money as I did it all at once and so far I am very happy with the results. I know my trans and differential are on boworred time and I am not tracking my car with DR/Slicks until I can purchase the last two mods that I need. If you want 700rwhp it cost money and Christx is right you can save by finding parts used, I know I did get some of the key components used, with the biggest being the A&A DS1C blower setup, just over half the price of a new one and this was enought to pay for the heads and clutch setup compared to new. I built in a buffer of 25% and that was key, remember gasket kits are expensive for LSx's and then I did some handling items at the same time my car was down and also a upgrade to the brakes. I wish you good luck on your build

Z06GMAN

I didn't have a BUDGET Oh well you can't take it with you and kids paying for their own college is good for them

xtream1

Fortunately neither did I.

I did, however, make a plan and collected as many used parts as I could use reliably. When the collection was complete (about 2 years time) I did the install in one shot with some minor adjustments about 2 months later for the bugs (like adding a meth kit etc-they were still not quite on the market at that time). Now it's been three years/20K+ miles and I'm finding myself still making adjustments/alterations to sort out some of the lingering bugs...and I had a well thought out plan to begin with! I guess that's what happens when you forge new ground.

asmokegars

It ain't cheap and you will always want more and if you drag race no matter what you will break things. That said once you get there the thrill is definately there.

Another way around this is to sell the stock car and buy a heavily modded car that was done by a reputable shop and check into the owner to see if the car was beat. You can get a modded car with mods at well below 50cents on the dollar.

Warp Factor

If you want immediate fun combined with cost effectiveness, do the ECS Paxton with the 8 rib. If you keep it around 500 rwhp for now and get the right tune, it should be pretty reliable and give you plenty of smiles until the money comes together for more.

Earl H

...or TTIx, PTK, STS, APS (when avail), that way you can turn up the heat when you are ready..